Heart valve disease affects millions, and at this time can only be treated by valve replacement or repair surgery. Cardiac valve prostheses have not significantly improved in decades, and one problem is a progressive decline in performance of heart valve replacements over 10 to 15 years after implant, necessitating additional surgery or resulting in morbidity and mortality. Additionally, valve prostheses prepared from polymeric materials, typically polyurethanes, have limited ability to bond to the living tissue to which they are attached. Therefore, methods of providing replacement valves having good longevity in vivo, including effective attachment to living tissues, would be of considerable medical value.